Thursday, May 28, 2009

Mudflows and floods in Tajikistan

The country of Tajikistan is especially prone to natural disasters. But the people there say the month of May has been especially difficult.

Floods and mudslides have destroyed a good part of the Tajikistan's crops. The weather could put food security at risk if the crops are unable to be replanted.

From the IRIN, we learn more of the costs from the weather in Tajikistan.

Farmers in Tajikistan will have to replant their crops after floods and mudflows damaged up to 40,000 hectares of agricultural land, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Tajikistan, which has 860,000 hectares of agricultural land according to the World Resources Institute, is prone to seasonal floods and mudslides. However, local people say the weather this May has been exceptional.

Some 3,000 livestock have perished and many pastures in foothill areas have been flooded, according to the most recent situation report published on 21 May by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"It's too late for farmers to claim [compensation] for what has been lost and they have been advised by the government to replant," Gabriella Waaijman, an OCHA regional disaster response adviser in Almaty (Kazakhstan), told IRIN.

The government is planning to help farmers replant with original or substitute crops before 1 June. However, the Agriculture Ministry said there was a shortage of fuel and seeds.

According to government estimates, over 2,000 buildings have been destroyed; 40 of the country’s 58 districts (many of which have little agricultural land) have been affected. Khuroson District in Khatlon Province is the worst hit area.